Background Parallax Scrolling in Godot 3.0
2D parallax effects are a staple in video games. Here we discuss how to create a parallax effect in Godot, a FOSS game engine. We also create a parallax...
Namespacing in Rails 5
If you've created a large Rails project, you may be encountering an organizational issue. Models, controllers, and other files live in the same folder...
Simple Forms Client Validation in Rails 5
Utilizing validation ensures good data integrity. You should validate on the server (in the model/controller) for security, and on the client to improve...
Polymorphic Associations in Rails 5
Polymorphic Associations help when one table must belongs_to multiple other tables.
The Rails docs demonstrate this relationship with an Imageable relationship...
URLs are UI in Rails 5
I recently came across this cool article showing how to make URLs that don't suck. It cross references some other articles discussing the same topic...
Browsing with Brave
I was recently listening to Software Engineering Daily, and caught this interview with Brendan Eich, creator of JavaScript and co-founder of Mozilla...
2D Normal Mapping in Godot with Sprite Illuminator
Recently I've been getting into Godot for 2D gamedev, and wanted to implement normal mapping to give my sprites some extra juice. Here I'll cover the...
How to Choose a Business Name
At the time of this writing, my blog/business/online brand name is JTronLabs. My name is James, back in school some friends called me JamesTron, and...
Videogame Architecture
Game Programming Patterns states the 3 goals of game architecture:
- We want nice architecture so the code is easier to understand over the lifetime...
Phaser-CE Tutorial: Birdu Part Three
Implementation
So far we've covered the tech stack behind Birdu and how to get a new Phaser project started using an automatic generator. Now, we'll...
Batch Geocoding a List of Addresses with Google Maps
Recently I needed to convert a few thousand store locations to their geographical coordinates, formal address, and find the distance separating them...
Publishing a Webpack2 Package on NPM
While working on Birdu and other Phaser Games, I decided that I wanted to reuse some UI components between them. There are a couple of UI libraries...
2017 Resolutions and Plans
This is looking to be a big year for me. Lots of changes are happening: I'm moving in with my girlfriend, starting a masters degree, quitting my job...
Basic Game Optimization Techniques
Recently I made a simple game and was surprised to run into performance issues. How to fix it? I could invest my time in micro optimizations (JS), intensive...
Phaser-CE Tutorial: Birdu Part Two
Using the Generator
How can you create a modular, maintainable, and standardized code project (especially in messy JS land)? One great way is to use...
Publishing with GitHub Pages
GitHub Pages gives you free, reliable hosting for static websites. A portfolio, blog, or product page can all be static websites: pages that are delivered...
Phaser-CE Tutorial: Birdu Part One
The Tech Stack
HTML5 games have come a long way in the past few years. As the tech continues to progress it becomes possible to make gameplay more...
Using Motion with a Raspberry Pi
Problem: The GF misses her dog when she's away from the house. I need a Valentine's day present. Solution: Over engineering!
Enter the Raspberry Pi...